Tigger / Tiger…or Who She Thinks She Is is one in a series of animal-themed works and was inspired in part by our somewhat demented cat. No, Tigger may not be the most original name for a stripey feline, but if you’d met her, you’d understand how perfectly that name suited her personality! Here she is, when just a kid, posed and ready for action on my favorite beading chair…

The title of this piece also reflects how I feel about myself, though my inner tiger rarely actually sees the light of day. (Maybe that’s a good thing?)

As was true of Hide (Fawn) and Changing Spots (Leopard), the beading on this sculpture was worked in peyote stitch over a taxidermy form. In this case, the form is for a wild cat known as a caracal or desert lynx. Native to Africa, Asia and India, caracals feature a narrow, elongated head and neck (resembling Tigger’s) and a muscular body (more like that of a tiger). I reduced the proportions of the caracal’s ears to more closely resemble those of a house cat. The wild animal’s natural beige to grey overall shades were transformed to the grey and black stripes of a tabby cat, pixelating to the brilliantly contrasting black and golden hues of a tiger.

This sculpture, my largest yet, took about one and a half years to complete. Below, are images of the finished work, followed by some portraying Tigger / Tiger while she was in progress.

In the below images, I was at about 9 1/2 months into the project. The two pieces of the cat (front and back) were taped together so that the figure could sit upright. Also, Tigger-Tiger’s ears had been added, so my friends would stop saying “she’s a bit creepy looking”!

The below images carry you back in time… Most recent are views that were shot when I had been working on the sculpture for about 6 1/2 months.

Next are images portraying what was completed at about 4 1/2 months into the project.

Finally, and lowest on this page, you can view an earlier stage of this work (about 2 months into the project).